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Guest Help

Guest Help

I'm Amritdhari, I shouldn't be missing Amrit Vela! I feel like my spiritual jeevan is going down the drain.

I'm a student and my lectures/ work times vary. Sometimes I'll be in bed by 11pm or afterwards, having to get up for university at 8am in the morning. Amrit Vela added into that means I hardly get any sleep. That's fine in theory, but I find that when my alarm goes off I'm just so tired I automatically switch it off and go back to sleep. I feel terrible for the whole day and try again the next morning, but the same thing happens.

Obviously there will always be commitments in life and plenty of you must face work hours. So how does one get a consistent Amrit Vela?! Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated.

I was so pumped up from reading books by Gursikhs, understanding the importance of Amrit Vela and Naam simran, going to kirtans etc- but all that seems to go out of the window when it comes time to getting up.

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1) set yourself a bed time; no matter what your going to aim to be in bed for that time.

2) aim at setting yourself a 20-60minute power nap after amrithvela. itll help you and you wont feel so tired in the long run.

3) when your alarm goes off think to yourself 'i got to get up to talk to vaheguru je now or else ill be trouble (found this works miracles for me especially now as its getting towards winter as it tricks my mind lol)

4) make the aim of your day your amrithvela meaning everything you do that day has your amrithvela for the next day as the aim. in other words youll do everything on a time scale to make sure your in bed by x time and up for x time. as this will slowly become a routine and youll feel better and more easily be able to get up for amrithvela.

5) if your parents wake up early then aim to be in the shower before them; that way you leave yourself no choice but to wake up otherwise youll be 'late' for that very important 'talk with vaheguru jee'.

If you have a part-time job then move your shifts. No lectures are ever run so late and hardly ever every day.

Have a look at what activities during the day you can eliminate so that you can do work at other times. Wasting time at the cinema? Having coffee with friends? Use that time to study.

Sleep earlier.

It's all about priorities. You're presumably studying and working to put food on the plate for you/family so that you can focus your efforts on Sikhi.

I'm sorry if this may appear to be rude! I've been a hard working student in the recent past, juggling work and studies so I know It can be done with some effort and by taking a look at one's priorities.

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The hardest part of getting up at Amritvela is the actual act of getting up from the bed. Many times when the alarm goes off, we are in half sleep and just shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. If you are having trouble getting up, the best way to get up is to put your alarm clock far away. So when it rings, you will be forced to get out of your bed to shut it off. This is what works for me at least.

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Guest ranbir singh johar

Guest ranbir singh johar

I am a retired who became Amritdhari about three years back. Despite having all the time at my disposal I could not get up at amrit vela but used to recite paths during day time only. However recently I started getting up at amrit vela and do not require any alarm to wake up. I feel Guru wakes me up at this time which He used to do earlier also but I was too lazy to wake up. Though it is mandatory for us to recite gurbani at amrit vela and we should make efforts for the same but it would only happen when Guru's blessings bestows upon us. Guru rakha.

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The reason of doing Nitnem is to understand Gurbani and one would assume that those who have been doing it for many many years would understand and practice Gurbani in their lives to make others' better. Otherwise, it merely becomes parroting which normally happens in many household.

Remember that most Punjabis were farmers and getting up early is a part of farming life, especially when most people didn't have electricity to turn night into day. Go to bed when it gets dark, up with the crowing of the cock was the natural rhythm of life. Amrit vela was not that much earlier than the usual time of rising. Life is not that simple for us now. I believe keeping these hours is best in lots of ways. It demands self-discipline and sets us apart from the people around us, plus those hours have a sort of spiritual magic to them that you'll only discover by doing it, a bit like keeping kesh. However for some people, it is impossible. We need to make a living, which sometimes means working hours incompatible with keeping the prescribed times.

I think, in some cases, it is necessary to adapt, as long as we are not just making excuses and choosing the easy way out. The Nitnem is important, as is naam simran and all the rest. I believe that doing these daily is more important than the times they are done.

Sikhi is about common sense. Yet one more gift of Guru Nanak when he threw water to the west at Haridwar to make a practical point for the benefit, not only of the Brahmins, but the entire world.

My father said something to me when I was a kid that has stuck with me ever since. He said "son, Sikhi is not about rituals, you don't do something just for the sake of doing it, that is not what the message of our Gurus is about. Always ask yourself why you are doing something, do not do something just because everyone else is, our Gurus did not follow the masses, use your own common sense in your day-to-day life."

I am a Uni student as well. I have an extremely heavy course-load, and none of the classes are easy. I am often up until 2-3 am and then have to get up at 8 am for Uni the next day. It usually is not possible for me to be awake at 4 am to do Nitmen. I may be able to force myself to wake up, but it would be good for nothing, because my mind would not be focused on the Bani, and it would also cause me to suffer in my studies due to lack of sleep.

Sikhi is not about dictating your life, it is supposed to enhance it. The Gurus taught us to honor our committments, when you go to school/work one of your responsibilities is to be the best student/employee you possibly can be. And it is for this reason I tend not to do Nitnem at 4 am. I do it at other times in the day, when I am more focused, when I will actually get something out of it, when I am reading it because I enjoy it, not because it is another chore I have to get through. The important thing is to learn something from the Bani, not about forcing yourself to read it at a time that interferes with the rest of your life.

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Guest Praveen Singh Khalsa

Guest Praveen Singh Khalsa

The hardest part of getting up at Amritvela is the actual act of getting up from the bed. Many times when the alarm goes off, we are in half sleep and just shut off the alarm and go back to sleep. If you are having trouble getting up, the best way to get up is to put your alarm clock far away. So when it rings, you will be forced to get out of your bed to shut it off. This is what works for me at least.

I blast bir ras kirtan in my face with my phones bright &lt;banned word filter activated&gt; light right when i wake up. Usually works lol

You could try and see how it works, also naps help a lot. Literally a 20 minute nap helps me freshen up. Learn how to nap power nap. Other than that, do your amrit vela based on what you can handle. As your avastha increases amrit vela will become easier.

Lately I have been wondering about this. Why is it that we sometimes stay connected and then we forget our path completely until something else happens and we start from scratch once again.

That is because our present condition is that of waves, as in being up and down, we are not constant nor firm in our Bhakti. If we had hold firmly on His Naam, then Pen Jee, then no mental earthquakes nor tsunamis can ever shake us, We can be up and down, but He does not waver, He is always an anchor, it is for us to cling on His Naam.

Once we sit in the jahaaz of His Naam, which power can tremble or shake us? Absolutely none. We are surrounded and wraped by His Kirpa.

I am not too sure about Russia and China having deep friendship though probably have interests that align.
They have an interest to join forces against US/West particularly in the Middle East (Syria/Iran) and you are correct regarding US reaction to Huawei, so they have common interests.
Russia has a vastly underpopulated far east and China probably has some eyes on some land grab.
China will want to cut India down to size as they are thinking long term who their competitors would be and that would be India.
They already have "a string of pearls" strategy in the Indian Ocean. They have be-friended the regime in Burma, Sri Lanka. (Helping to build ports and naval bases).
The base in Gwadar in Pakistan has been largely funded by them.
As well as all their investments in Africa.
India's southern and western flank in the Indian Ocean has been completely surrounded.
The world has been asleep whilst China has been quietly on the rise.

Russia and India were once deep friends. The bonhomie of the 90s is over. Now the relationship is mostly transactional. Russia just wants market to sell its outdated WW2- era millitary technology and that market is India. Russia has in past banned bhagwad gita, the holy book of hindus and indian businessmen are not allowed to excel there by Russians. Putin is fooling India !
China and Russia are deep friends now. Xi and Putin have a very exceptional friendship as both say. You can say China and Russia are pretty much married now. While all of european countries and india was against China, Russia hold his hands for Huawei and Russia selected it for 5G in Russia. Now even during covid pandemic , while US led world is lifting fingers at China, Russia slammed US for blaming china without evidence. So China and Russia are indisputable allies and very close !
Now here is where it gets tricky. India and Russia are friends . But India and China are frenemies (friend on face and enemy in reality) . Thats why there is standoff between India and China at the moment . And Pak is all weather friend of China
US and China are enemies now because of trade war and such. Anyways China wanted to replace US as world power since long . Its just that their enmity has come out in open now. And US and India has become deep allies now , thats why Modi and Trump has such deep friendship .
To summarize it :
China - Russia : DEEP Friendship
China - India : ENEMY
Pak - China : DEEP friendship
Russia - India : Friendship
US - CHINA : ENEMY
US- RUSSIA : ENEMY
now slowly India will lose Russia as it recently lost Nepal to chinese influence . I suspect this is going to happen in a few years from now
Increasingly the world is being polarized on two axis : One led by US and another led by China/Russia, reminiscent of allies and axis of world wars.
Only a fool would believe the world is not headed to WW3 with these 2 axis who will fight against each other.